National Post (National Edition)
Price may be right for Cup chase
VETERAN GOALIE MAY BE IN BEST POSITION TO WIN HIS FIRST NHL TITLE
The list of players looking to cap off Hockey Hall-of-Fame career with a championship got shorter last October when Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos finally hoisted the Stanley Cup two years after Washington's Alex Ovechkin finally did the same.
But there still exists a list. And it's still pretty long.
At the top of it all is Joe Thornton, who signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the age of 41 in hopes of going out as a champion. Not that far behind him is Montreal's Carey Price. And while the 33-year-old goalie is almost a full decade younger than Thornton — and is signed for six more years — the urgency to win is just the same for someone who has won everything except the thing that matters the most.
“The ultimate prize is the one he's chasing,” said former NHL goalie Jamie McLennan, now an analyst for TSN. “That puts the cherry on top.”
Price has won the Vezina Trophy and the Hart Trophy as league MVP. He's led Canada to victory at the world juniors, the Olympics and the World Cup. He's even won a Calder championship in the AHL.
Now, it's time for the best goalie of our generation to get his name on a Stanley Cup.
“I think the biggest thing is his Cup pursuit,” said NHL Network's Kevin Weekes, another former goalie. “He's got a ton of game left, but you've got to take advantage of the window when it's there.”
That window of opportunity has never been quite as open as it is this year.
Montreal was busy in the off-season, trading Max Domi to Columbus for Josh Anderson, and signing wingers Tyler Toffoli, Corey Perry and defenceman Joel Edmundson to a team that already was on the rise with Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
This might be the best roster Price has played on in a long time. With Edmondson joining a back end that includes Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry and Alexander Romanov, he's certainly never played behind this deep of a defence.
It means Price no longer has to be the saviour for the Habs to have success.
It also means there are no more excuses.
“Now, more than ever, you see that they might have a team that could help him out,” McLennan said. “Their defensive corps is the deepest in Canada. They're mobile, but they're also mean and physical. And at forward, they upgraded on size, for sure.”
The biggest upgrade, however, might have been what Montreal did in net.
Signing Jake Allen to be Price's backup may not have made the same headlines as Calgary acquiring Jacob Markstrom, but for Price, who has played more than any other goalie in the past two seasons, it could be just as substantial.
“Carey's game had really dipped in the past few years, but let's be honest: it's because he's been overplayed,” said former NHL goalie Steve Valiquette, who works as a studio analyst for the MSG Network. “When goalies play too much, they give up goals that they shouldn't. I think we're going to see a different goalie this year. I think Calgary (which has Markstrom and David Rittich) and Montreal have the two best tandems. Nobody is even close.”
Does that mean Price is still the NHL's best goalie?
That depends on whom you ask. It's been six years since he last won the Vezina — he hasn't even been a finalist since 2016-17 — or won a playoff round. Last year, he ranked outside the top 30 in goals-against average and save percentage.
That doesn't sound like he's the best in the world any more. At this stage of his career, he might not even have the edge over Philadelphia's Carter Hart as the guy Team Canada will have in net for the 2022 Olympics.
In a North Division loaded with top-end goalies, where does Price rank?
Is he better than Calgary's Markstrom? How about Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner? Would you put him ahead of Toronto's Frederik Andersen, Vancouver's Braden Holtby or even Ottawa's Matt Murray?
At the same time, would you be willing to count out a goalie who single-handedly upset Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the qualification round of the playoffs?
“It doesn't matter what we say. When you see those player polls that the NHLPA releases every year, the guy that players always say is the best goalie is Price,” McLennan said. “I don't think that's because of reputation. You saw it in the playoffs. Guys don't like facing him.”
Maybe, in a shortened season where every game is like a playoff game, we will continue to see that from Price. Maybe, he will get Montreal back to the conference final like he did in 2014, when the only thing that stopped him was getting run over by the Rangers' Chris Kreider.
Maybe this will be his year. It better be, because he does not have too many years left.
“If he doesn't get one in the next couple of years, does the window close? The window all involves the aging curve,” Valiquette said. “Age and curve for goalies is going to peak at 25, and then you're going to see a noticeable drop at 30 and then the big drop is at 35. I think we've seen four goalies in the past 30 years win a Stanley Cup at age 35.”
In other words, that gives Price a two-year window to get his Cup. Let the countdown begin.